nottingham or sussex?

hi everyone, title is pretty self-explanatory but i am VERY confused about this. i'm doing non-science alevels (history, german, eng lit) and am doing Bsc Psych wherever i go but am quite keen not to do loads of biology/neuroscience in my degree. I live in London and want to be able to visit quite often... I am also adament that I want to go somewhere friendly and relaxed as opposed to uptight/superficial/arrogant as some of the top unis have been portrayed. To get to the point, basically I visited Sussex and thought it was brilliant - fantastic lectures, great atmosphere, perfect course, pretty campus, not far from London, loved Brighton. Visited Nottingham the week after and found a gorgeous campus with an fairly self-satisfied, unhelpful Psych department with no campus tour or anything. I also know that the psych degree there is very science based. And it took me 4 hours to get there, since i couldnt afford the train lol!

But the crucial difference btw Nottingham and Sussex is that Nottingham is better for Psychology, and seen as being one of the very best for it. I am academic and driven, and really want a good career. Could anyone shed light on any of this for me?! did i get the complete wrong picture of Nottingham? Is Sussex an academic uni as well as a friendly one?? Is it wise to turn down such a highly rated uni for a less highly rated uni, or is it a complete mistake to read everything into the league tables?? I am so confused. I just want to have a good time at university, be with nice people, and get a great degree! help! xxx

Reply 1

zoea85

I'm pretty much having the same problem as you but its Sussex vs Exeter! I was set on going to Exeter until I visited both Exeter and Sussex.
Although Exeter isn't one of the best, I feel that its more of a 'respected' uni /name and that I would be more employable with an Exeter degree and I love the location.
But - I loved the course/lecture/ enthusiam at Sussex, whereas Exeter's department were friendly but didn't really have that real buzz of enthusiam and didn't provide me with much information.
Like you, I also liked Sussex's friendly relaxed atmosphere, as opposed to the sloanyness of Exeter, which made me feel uncomfortable. Thing is I've always worked really hard to go to a 'respected' uni, but Sussex is drawing me in because of the atmosphere! I think I know the right decision, I just keep looking at league tables and thinking Sussex isn't very high but you've got to remember its the course you're going to be studying for 3 years.

I thought Sussex's lecturers were very unusually vibrant and enthusiastic compared to a lot of uni's. Sorry I can't be much help, I'm as confused as you are, but I do think I'd regret going to a uni just for the name, when underneath I know which one I prefered. Also, Sussex might not be the best, but I certainly don't think it is a bad uni, especially the psychology department.

Reply 2

requieminganddreaming

I think you're me in disguise! seems like we have the exact same problem. the sloany issue is something else that bothers me.... i moved from state sch to a private sixth form (randomly) and all my friends at my school now either came from state schools or are completely down to earth... i know what i'd be letting myself in for if i went to nottingham or some of the others. i also know that the course suits me perfectly and that i loved brighton and loved the people (did you go to any of the open days? i thought the lecturers were pretty extraordinary actually) and that basically.... it was for me, much more than nottingham is. but im like you too in that ive always worked hard and dont want to waste opportunities/very good employability chance. then again, theres absolutely no evidence to say that sussex cant provide this... a good proportion come out with Psychology 1sts, the lecturers were amazing and much of Psychology employability is to do with your postgrad/masters degree and specific areas you have worked in anyway (according to my mum, who practises as a psychologist.)

I'm going to stop there cos i've just realised i'm thinking outloud and that its probably absolute crap anyway. but its nice that we're swimming/sinking in the same confusing waters here... any new thoughts?! xxx

Reply 3

-sarah-

i absolutely loved nottingham when i visited, thought both the students and the lecturers who were around were really friendly! maybe i caught them on a good day and you caught them on a bad day or something!! you only get lecturers for blocks of a term or a topic usually anyway so even if you were spoken to by a fantastic lecturer they wouldn't be teaching you for that much time anyway :frown:

and the actual department was nice, very comfy seats in the lecture theatres!! its also quite accessible - only an hour and a half away from london (£15 return train fare if you book enough in advance!) so would be accessible for going home.

having said that i did reject it, york, and bristol (all of which were higher in the league tables than the one i went for) and sheffield and manchester. Remember that the kind of people you meet on the open day are not necessarily the people you will end up being friends with - the people i met on my open day at durham were all quite posh (and virtually all computer scientists/physicists in my halls!) and geeky in the psych department but now I'm actually here there are a handful if that and everyone is really down to earth and friendly - I'm sure you'll find the same wherever you go, you'll always find people that are like you. (and they gave me no tours what so ever, and had the most boring guy ever give a "sample" lecture based on something completely irrelevant to the whole degree... really why did i pick durham?!!! but its really not like that when i got there, most lectures are actually interesting (!) and the staff friendly! - bet they were just trying to put people off so they didn't go over their quotas!)
i've said this before on here, but pick the place you would rather live and spend 3 years of your life - if you're happier you're more likely to do well and a 1st or 2:ii and a good experience is much better than a lower grade where you were too bored to work or a bad experience where you hated uni at a better uni. employers won't look at the league tables and reject you from jobs because you went to a university that was 3 places below the other or whatever they are, as long as they have a good reputation overall, and I think you'll find that most of the courses are actually quite similar due to the BPS guidelines restricting what they teach, but all with a slightly different focus and ways of teaching it. if you're gut instinct is really strongly against nottingham then if you go there you'll probably be unhappy and thinking "what if i went to sussex?" but bear in mind open days aren't the perfect indicator of what actually being there would be like! hope that makes some sense (probably not, i've had far too much caffeine!) good luck with your decisions!! xx

Reply 4

The Boosh

I think a few of us have been here before. Sussex vs (perhaps) higher league table redbricks like Exeter/Cardiff. I have to say, I'm impressed with the amount of people raving about the Sussex enthusiasm - this makes a big difference. As I said in another forum, Exeter is an arrogant university but good at what it does. Ive studied at Exeter for 4 years so far as a postgrad and its one of the most popular unis in the country with far too many applicants for its own good - hence it doesnt have to try extra hard to recruit students. Id be tempted to apply to Nottingham over Sussex because Notts. is a lot higher/more consistent in the league tables. But you wouldnt make the wrong decision by going to Sussex either.

Reply 5

Em444

nottingham all the way

Reply 6

joxx

Hellooo...i thought i'd try and make myself useful, i don't know anything about sussex but I'm going to nottingham to do psychology and cognitive neuroscience if i get the grades! I went to an open day at nottingham and the lecturers all seemed to say that you don't need a biological background to do the course....BUT...I spoke to a girl in her first year of straight psychology at nottingham and she said ' make sure you check the modules very carefully before you come because there is a lot of biology on this course' ...she wasnt sure she had picked the right course because of how sciency it was.
I do biology A level and am interested in the biological side of psychology which is why i chose the course at nottingham

I hope that helps

joxx

Reply 7

roarylion

Hi everyone,

I am a third year Psychology student at the Uni of Nottingham so maybe i can help out a little. I'm sorry if any of you felt people here aren't friendly. I think a lot of the time it's about how you perceive someone, which isn't necessarily what they're like. I was terrified of most of the other students for ages until i got to know them. Yes there are a lot of.... very well off (wasn't sure how to put it!) people here but for any one person who is snobbish or looks down at you there are a handful of lovely people.

Now the course. It's REALLY biology and neuro based. Have a look on the website at the third year options (www.psychology.nottingham.ac.uk). I didn't know before i came but apparently nott is well known as a neuroscience centre so a lot of the teaching comes from this. There is some social stuff but not a lot and if that's what you're looking for then maybe a BA or course elsewhere would be better.

At the end of the day go with how you felt when you were here. Whatever you decide, the best of luck to all of you.

Kate

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